An Overview of Major High-end Polyolefin Projects in China: How Big is the Gap with Developed Countries?

High-end polyolefins, as high-performance materials innovatively developed based on traditional polyolefin technology, have achieved breakthroughs in molecular structure design, polymerization processes, and performance. They exhibit superior strength, toughness, temperature resistance, chemical corrosion resistance, and excellent optical properties. These unique advantages make high-end polyolefins stand out in emerging industries, becoming a key driver for industrial upgrading and innovative development.

In recent years, many domestic enterprises have actively responded to the call for technology research and development and industrial upgrading, continuously increasing investment in R&D, deepening cooperation among industry, academia, and research, and boldly exploring innovation. In the layout of the high-end polyolefin industry chain, Chinese enterprises have achieved multiple key technological breakthroughs, gradually breaking the monopoly of foreign enterprises. Which Chinese enterprises are laying out the high-end polyolefin industry chain? Compared with developed countries, how big is the gap for China?

I. Major High-End Polyolefins Projects Review

Sinopec

China Petrochemical, as the leading enterprise in our country's petrochemical industry, has demonstrated strong technical capabilities and strategic layout abilities in the high-end polyolefins field. Multiple projects under its umbrella have made significant progress, laying a solid foundation for the development of our country's high-end polyolefins industry.

Tianjin Nangang 100,000 tons POE, 100,000 tons ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene project successfully started and operated smoothly on November 11, 2024, fully producing high-end new materials. Among them, the 100,000 tons/year ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene unit marks a significant breakthrough in domestic independent intellectual property rights. The unit successfully solved the problem of core equipment localization in the process flow, and the slurry pump used can handle gas-liquid-solid three-phase materials with a solid content as high as 40% wt, effectively reducing costs and shortening the procurement cycle. At the same time, relying on Sinopec's new material research and development center in Tianjin, the project combines its own technology and Ineos technology to produce a variety of high-end new materials, including medical low-odor high-density polyethylene, high-performance metallocene linear low-density polyethylene, PE100+, POE, high-carbon α-olefins, and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, etc.

Maoming Petrochemical's 50,000 tons/year POE and raw material project is also steadily advancing. On August 29, 2024, the 35-kilovolt substation of Maoming Petrochemical's 50,000 tons/year polyolefin elastomer (POE) industrial test facility successfully received power for the first time, laying a solid foundation for the commissioning of the facility and the mechanical completion target.

The Zhenhai Refining & Chemical 1.5 million tons/year ethylene and downstream high-end new materials industry cluster project has also attracted considerable attention. In May 2023, the project was approved, involving a steam cracking capacity of 1.5 million tons/year and a series of downstream high-end new material production facilities, including 800,000 tons/year of hydrotreated cracked gasoline, 500,000 tons/year of aromatics extraction, and 200,000 tons/year of butadiene extraction, among others.

In addition, Sinopec has also made significant achievements in the research and development of high-end polyolefin materials such as propylene-based elastomers (PBE) and poly-1-butene (PB-1). On December 6, 2024, the first domestic PBE pilot plant at the Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry's Tianjin Science Experiment Base successfully completed the entire production process in one go. The pilot plant uses solution polymerization technology independently developed by the institute, along with self-developed catalysts, to produce a series of new PBE products, marking that the institute has successfully mastered the technology for developing propylene-based elastomers based on single-center catalysts and a solution polymerization platform.

November 29, 2024, the butene-1 pilot plant at the Tianjin Science Experiment Base successfully completed the entire process in one go. The pilot plant uses olefin polymerization technology in a liquid bulk phase independently developed by the North Chemical Institute, and applies self-developed catalysts to develop high-end polyolefin materials mainly consisting of a series of butene-1, which will continuously expand the application fields of butene-1 products, providing strong support for achieving self-control of key materials and enhancing market competitiveness. Poly-1-butene (PB-1), due to its excellent physical and chemical properties, is hailed as the "gold of plastics" and is one of the most cutting-edge chemical materials in the world today.

2) China National Petroleum Corporation

China National Petroleum Corporation is actively laying out in the high-end polyolefins field, achieving a series of remarkable results with its strong technical research and development capabilities and rich industrial experience.

On the morning of March 15, 2025, Blue Ocean New Materials Company held a groundbreaking ceremony for the high-end polyolefin new materials project, marking the official entry into a new phase of comprehensive construction of key core facilities. This project is an important part of the strategic cooperation agreement between China National Petroleum Corporation and Jiangsu Province, planning to build 18 chemical plants, all using domestic technology, with 16 plants selecting proprietary technology from China National Petroleum. The project plans to construct facilities including a 200,000 tons/year FDPE plant, 2×25,000 tons/year ethylene propylene rubber plants, a 100,000 tons/year POE plant, a 100,000 tons/year 1-hexene/1-octene plant, and 2×1,000 Nm³/h electrolysis water hydrogen production plants, along with supporting public utilities and auxiliary facilities.

China National Petroleum Corporation Dushanzi Petrochemical has made a significant breakthrough in POE production. On the morning of December 25, 2024, Dushanzi Petrochemical Company announced that the output of its new series of polyolefin elastomer (POE) products had exceeded ten thousand tons. On May 6, the company switched to POE production as planned and achieved a technological breakthrough in the domestic gas-phase production of polyolefin elastomers the next day. After professional technical evaluation and analysis of the trial-produced products, their performance was found to be comparable to imported products. The company then promoted the trial use of these products among more than 80 customers across over 10 downstream fields, including photovoltaic film and modification, continuously improving the product based on market feedback.

3) Wanhua Chemical

Wanhua Chemical (Penglai) Co., Ltd.'s 400,000 tons/year polyolefin elastomer project is an important layout in the high-end polyolefins field. In September 2021, Wanhua Chemical completed the pilot production of POE products and laid out multiple 200,000 tons/year POE production capacities, which are one of the key installations in the company's "1.2 million tons/year ethylene and downstream high-end polyolefins project."

On June 29, 2024, the first phase of the 400,000 tons/year polyolefin elastomer project of Wanhua Chemical (Penglai), with a capacity of 200,000 tons/year for POE, achieved full process connectivity and successfully produced qualified products, marking the successful high-quality start-up at the first attempt of China's first large-scale independently developed POE industrial facility.

By the end of February 2025, the second phase of the 400,000 tons/year polyolefin elastomer project of Wanhua Chemical (Penglai) commenced construction. As a downstream product of the second phase of ethylene, this project is an important high-end downstream product in the ethylene product chain, which can significantly enhance the value of the ethylene industry chain. It is understood that this project is currently the largest industrial production facility in this field in China, utilizing self-developed technology by Wanhua, and is expected to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2025. Once the project reaches full production, it will operate in synergy with the nine major production facilities of Wanhua's first phase, achieving shared raw materials and facilities, contributing to the development of Penglai into a globally leading green and low-carbon new materials industrial cluster.

4) Other enterprises

In addition to the aforementioned industry giants, there are numerous domestic enterprises actively exploring in the high-end polyolefins field, each displaying their strengths and contributing to the development of China's high-end polyolefins industry. The 900,000 tons/year polyolefins project by China Coal Yulin commenced in June 2024, with an expected production start in 2026. Zhejiang Petrochemical's high-end new materials project started in Zhoushan in July, planned for completion in 2026, and has already achieved phased breakthroughs. Satellite Petrochemical's alpha-olefin comprehensive utilization high-end new materials industrial park project in Lianyungang was launched in June, with a total investment of 26.6 billion yuan. Hengli Petrochemical's Dingjid Petrochemical POE project landed in Dalian in September 2023, with plans for production to begin in 2025. Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group's 300,000 tons/year EPOE project began construction in February, featuring world-first technology. Huizhou Lituo, under Yueyang Xingchang, successfully completed trial operations for its 300,000 tons/year high-end polyolefins project in January 2024, and it has now fully commenced production.

II. How Far Behind Are China and Developed Countries?

As our country continues to make breakthroughs in the field of high-end polyolefins, it is expected that by 2030, the domestic production rate of high-end polyolefins will increase to over 50%. In comparison with developed countries, how far behind is our country in the field of high-end polyolefins?

Analysis of the Advantages of China's Polyolefins Industry

In recent years, China's polyolefin capacity has continued to expand, becoming an important force in global polyolefin production. Large petrochemical enterprises such as Sinopec and CNPC have set up large-scale polyolefin production bases in multiple locations across the country, forming a complete industrial chain system from crude oil extraction, refining, to polyolefin production. This complete industrial chain ensures the stability of raw material supply. For example, domestic petrochemical companies rely on their own refining facilities to stably produce ethylene, providing sufficient raw materials for polyolefin production and reducing external dependence. The integrated operation of the industrial chain reduces intermediate steps, lowers production costs, and enhances the international price competitiveness of Chinese polyolefins. At the same time, as one of the world's largest consumer markets, China has a strong demand for polyolefin products, which are widely used in everything from daily plastic products to industrial goods. With the acceleration of urbanization and the improvement of living standards, the demand for high-quality plastic products is increasing, providing a broad market space for the polyolefin industry. Chinese polyolefin enterprises closely follow market demands, quickly adjust production strategies, and have significant advantages in product market adaptability and speed of renewal.

In the research and development of polyolefin technology, China has made significant progress. Domestic research institutions and enterprises have closely cooperated, increasing investment in R&D, and achieving breakthroughs in key areas such as catalyst technology and polymerization processes. The development of metallocene catalysts has yielded results, with the production scale of metallocene polyolefins expanding, featuring excellent properties such as high strength and good flexibility, meeting the demands of high-end markets. Chinese companies continuously optimize polymerization processes, improving production efficiency and reducing energy consumption, developing polyolefin products with special properties through independent R&D, thereby enhancing the added value of the products. The improvement in technological innovation capabilities has provided strong support for the upgrading and development of China's polyolefin industry, helping China to occupy a more important position in the global polyolefin market.

2) The "chokepoint" problem of China's polyolefins industry

Although China has a large polyolefin production capacity, it heavily relies on imports for high-end sectors. For example, special polyolefin products such as high-carbon alpha-olefin copolymer polyethylene and ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers (EVOH) have insufficient domestic production, leading to a heavy dependence on imports. High-carbon alpha-olefin copolymer polyethylene, due to its excellent impact resistance and processing properties, is widely used in high-end injection molding and high-performance films; EVOH, because of its outstanding barrier properties, has a high demand in food packaging and automotive fuel tanks, which domestic production finds hard to meet. The production technology for these high-end products is monopolized by a few companies in Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea, and there is a gap between Chinese enterprises in terms of technology research and development and production processes, making them at a clear disadvantage in the high-end market competition.

In terms of key technologies and equipment for polyolefin production, China faces "chokepoint" issues. Taking the loop reactor in gas-phase polymerization processes as an example, its design and manufacturing technology have long been controlled by foreign countries. The domestic loop reactor technology level is relatively low, with the manufacturing precision and performance of critical components difficult to reach the advanced levels of foreign counterparts. The cost of introducing related technologies and equipment is high and subject to restrictions. In addition, high-performance catalysts, such as those for producing ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, also rely on imports, which hinders the progress of China's polyolefin industry towards higher-end development.

The Chinese polyolefin product standard system has a gap with international standards. European and American standards are more stringent and comprehensive in terms of product quality, performance indicators, and environmental requirements, such as the extremely strict environmental standards for plastic products by the EU. The current Chinese standards are relatively lenient, leading to trade barriers due to non-compliance when exporting. Moreover, the domestic standards update slowly, making it difficult to adapt to market demands for new products and technologies, affecting the promotion and application of Chinese polyolefin products in the international market, which is not conducive to international competition.

China's high-end polyolefins industry has made significant progress in technology research and development, industrial chain layout, and market demand. Companies such as Sinopec, CNPC, and Wanhua Chemical have been actively expanding, continuously increasing production scale and product quality. However, compared to developed countries, China still faces "choke point" issues in the field of high-end polyolefin products, including import dependence, key technologies and equipment being controlled by others, and a lagging product standard system. In the future, China needs to continue to increase R&D investment, break through core technologies, and improve the product standard system to enhance international competitiveness and promote the sustainable development of the high-end polyolefins industry.

Source: Polyolefin People, Chemical New Materials

Editor: Shi Shenbing